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The Evolution of a Commercial
Printer
In the year 1975, Bud Knott & Sons
Instant Duplicating was a small “insty-printer” serving local
Elgin businesses. When the owners decided to retire, they sold
the business to Kern, Steve and Diane Hagg. The Haggs all had
recently graduated from college, and printing was in their
blood. The Haggs’ great-grandfather, Charles Kern, had been a
partner with Glennon & Kern Printing Company, a large
letterpress operation located on Printer’s Row in Chicago
during the early 1900s. The Haggs’ grandfather, Arthur H.
Hagg, was part owner of S & M Bindery on Chicago’s north
side during the middle of the last century. And the Haggs’
father, Kern Sr., worked his entire life in the newspaper
advertising
business.
In
1977, with the Haggs as new owners, Bud Knott & Sons
acquired a small letterpress shop in an old automotive service
station on the east side of Elgin. Bud Knott & Sons
Instant Duplicating acquired a Heidelberg Windmill
letterpress, a new name, Rush Printing, and a long customer
list of Chicago-area print distributors that had been using
Rush Printing to crash imprint business forms. The $5,000
purchase price would, over time, result in the cultivation of
more than $100 million dollars in
sales.
A
few years later, the name was changed again to Rush Graphics.
It was a name that better described the fast turnaround and
business forms design aspects of the business. The company’s
sales grew during the `80s and `90s at a rate of more than 25
percent per year due to the acquisition of larger and faster
machines. The continued loyalty of so many of its clients also
was
key.
In
1998, the name was changed for the last time to Hagg Press,
Inc. This change was made to de-emphasize the “rushing” of
jobs and the graphics or design aspects of its previous name.
Business forms were in decline and the owners felt it was best
to emphasize the long family tradition as well as the heavy
commercial printing and publication equipment being utilized.
“Hagg Press” was an easy
choice.
Since
its earliest days more than 30 years ago, Hagg Press has grown
dramatically because of loyal clients, great employees, and
the acquisition of bigger and more versatile equipment. There
are about 44,000 printers in America, and Hagg Press is number
373 in gross annual revenues. That’s the top
1%! Electronic printing, computer-to-plate technology,
e-commerce and many other exciting changes already have
happened at Hagg Press so the next 30 years should be as
exciting to experience as the past.
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